SmartCAT and COM port enumeration, LAN IP addresses

My new Flex-6500 sits on my shack shelf and I am glad that I bought it, because I havealmost no problems with the TRX and SSDR. Having written that I must also say thatI have been very happy with my Flex-3000 for some years now and plan to keep it. I am therefore quite used to VSPE by eterlogic and VAC, both of which run on my toughbooknow with PowerSDR.

Now I am quite new to the Flex-6500 and I know that software development is in progressan I even am patient enough to wait for it ;-) I found out early that I have to start the notebookfirst and than the 6500 and than SmartSDR, SmartCAT, DAX, DDUtil etc.pp. OK so far. Everything runs fine.

But I have - as I am sure a lot of HAMs out there also have - a LOT of CAT software runningon my notebooks as I have a TS2000X and a IC-756PRO, both with microHAM interfaces anda lot of portables, D-Star and FM, which need programming. All these programs, mostly by RTSystems, need virtual COM ports, which have to be assigned and can't be easily changed.

Now SmartCAT comes around and wants it's own virtual COM ports and you can't doanything about it's COM port enumeration, because SmartCAT is unable to see virtualports which are already assigned but not in use... 8-(

OK, I found out what to do, I reassigned some ports and everything runs now, as I said,but it would be a lot easier if:

1. SmartSDR CAT would be able to assign specific COM port numbers to virtual ports, if VSPE by eterlogic can do it, why can't SmartCAT?

2. DHCP is fine and works for me, but sometimes DAX thinks that my main network machine is the Flex and takes it's IP. Even closing and restarting CAT does not change that, CAT sits there and is obstinate ;-) So I would really like to assign specific IP addresses for the Flex and it's trabants CAT and CAX and Bridge and so on.

Both of these settings could be an option.

BTW it would be great to have an option in SmartSDR to assign Ctrl-T (example) to tune for those of us who have a small shack and not enough space for two or more monitors ....

Howard, thank you for your info. Ok, I know that, but my router isn't always on andthe Flex is then only connected through a switch with my notebook. Setting IP's in SmartSDR should be quite easy to program, but no hurry ;-)